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Laboratory for Remote Sensing and Geoinformatics

Funded Grants


2019

10/2019-09/2022 – PI: Hongjie Xie. Co-PIs: Stephen Ackley, Kiran Bhaganagar, Christopher Combs, and Alberto Mestas-Nunez (UTSA), John Cassano (UC Boulder), Marylyn Raphael (UCLA), and Tomeka Wilson (Alamo College). NASA MIRO Center for Advancement Measurements in Extreme Environments. NASA, #80NSSC19M0194 ($3,000,000).

01/2019-12/2021 – Lead PI: Hongjie Xie (with collaborative institutions Missouri State University and University of George Mason). Co-PI: Alberto Mestas-Nunez. Elements: Data: HDR: Collaborative Research: Developing an On-Demand Service Module for Mining Geophysical Properties of Sea Ice from High Spatial Resolution. NSF CSSI Program (total funding $597,000, UTSA portion $220,000).

2018

04/2018-04/2021 – Institutional PI: Hongjie Xie (Lead PI: Court Strong, University of Utah). Impacts of cloud-lead coupling on the surface energy budget of the Arctic sea ice-atmosphere system. NASA Cryosphere Program, #80NSSC18K0843 (total funding $471,000, UTSA portion $99,000).

2017

09/2017- – PI: Hongjie Xie. Co-PIs: Stephen Ackley, Alberto Mestas-Nunez, Blake Weissling, and Yongli Gao. Developing effective algorithms (ICESat-2) for improving observations and forecasting of freeboard, ice thickness, and leads in operational ice charts for southern oceans. NASA ICESat-2 Early Adopter Program (for proof of concept and early data access).

03/2017-03/2020 – PI: K. Hollands (Germany Aerospace Center). Co-PIs: Hongjie Xie and others. Sea ice mapping and coastal polynya monitoring in the Ross Sea, Antarctic, using high resolution TerraSAR-X data. Germany Space Agency (for TSX radar images acquisitions).

2015

10/2015-9/2018 – PI: Hongjie Xie. Co-PIs: Lance Lambert, Yongli Gao, and Hatim Sharif. Improvement of minority education in Earth science and environmental engineering at the University of Texas at San Antonio (MSEIP at UTSA). DoEd MSEIP Program ($749,705).
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09/2015-08/2016 – PI: Hongjie Xie. Co-PIs: Yongli Gao and Marina Suarez. Reconstruct paleo-lake shorelines and monsoon variability over the Tibetan Plateau since late Pleistocene. UTSA GREAT ($20,000).

06/2015-06/2018 – PI: Stephen Ackley. Co-PIs: Hongjie Xie and Blake Weissling. Collaborative research: Polynyas, ice production and seasonal evolution in the Ross Sea (PIPERS). NSF ($661,351).

2014

02/2014-01/2015 – PI: Rolando Vega. Co-PI: Hongjie Xie and others. Intelligent energy systems research program. CPS Energy ($467,974).

2013

01/2013-12/2017 – PI: Stephen Ackley. Co-PI: Blake Weissling. Wave-ice and air-ice-ocean interaction during the Chukchi Sea ice edge advance. Office of Navy Research ($276,348).

01/2013-12/2014 – PI: Hongjie Xie. Co-PI: Tiangang Liang (Lanzhou University, China). Dynamic monitoring and evaluation between grassland ecological environment and snow/ice and lakes on Tibetan Plateau. National Science Foundation of China/Chinese Oversea Collaborative Fund (¥200,000).

2012

09/2012-08/2013 – PI: Hongjie Xie. Co-PI: Hatim Sharif. Snow freeboard and ice thickness distributions and changes over Bellingshausen-Amundsen Sea from IceBridge data. UTSA/CRSGP ($30,000).

2011

09/2011-02/2014 – PI: Hatim Sharif. Co-PI: Hongjie Xie and others. Climate change communication: engineering, environmental science, and education. NASA ($501,814).

06/2011-05/2014 – Institutional PI: Hongjie Xie (Lead PI: Zong-liang Yang, UT Austin). Co-PIs: Wei Min Hao, Hae-cheol Kim, David Maidment, Paul Montagna, James McClelland, and Hongjie Xie. Developing and applying an integrated multi-scale Earth system modeling framework to study the impacts of changing climate, local weather, and land use and watersheds and downstream coastal ecosystems. NASA Interdisciplinary Science Program, #NNX11AE42G (total $1,655,524, UTSA portion $120,000).

2010

10/2010-09/2013 – PI: Hongjie Xie. Co-PIs: Lance Lambert and Hatim Sharif. Minority Opportunities for Research Experience in Earth Science and Environmental Engineering at the University of Texas at San Antonio (MORESE at UTSA). U.S. Department of Education MSEIP Program, #P120A100092 ($561,434).
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08/2010-07/2011 – PI: Hongjie Xie (in collaboration with Austin/San Antonio NWS Office, PI: J.W. Zeitler). Co-PI: Hatim Sharif. Vertically pointing radar reflectivity and rainfall measurements at different heights and comparison with a tipping bucket rain gauge and WSR-88D Level II reflectivity. NOAA UCAR/COMET Program ($11,934).

03/2010-12/2011 – PI: Stephen Ackley. Co-PIs: Hongjie Xie and Carmen Fies. NASA supplement for education: primary grant NASA #NNX08AQ87G, Polar and planetary sciences modules for K-12 teachers. NASA ($30,000).

01/2010-12/2011 – PI: Stephen Ackley. Co-PIs: Hongjie Xie and Brent Nowak. Collaborative research: the sea ice system in Antarctic summer, Oden southern ocean expeditions. NSF Antarctic Sciences Division/Antarctic Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences (AOAS) ($340,718).

2009

09/2009-09/2011 – Institutional PI: Hongjie Xie (Lead PI: Alex Sun, Southwest Research Institute). Co-PIs: Ron Green, Olufemi Osidele, and Hongjie Xie. A collaborative geospatial decision support system for managing coastal river basins. NASA Applied Sciences Program (total $247,439, UTSA portion $24,153).

2008

11/2008-08/2009 – PI: Hongjie Xie. Remote sensing urban heat-island phenomenon in four Texas cities: Houston, Dallas-Ft Worth, San Antonio, and El Paso. UTSA 2008/2009 Tenure-Track Research Award Competition ($22,000).

08/2008-07/2009 – PI: Hongjie Xie (in collaboration with Austin/San Antonio NWS Office, PI: J.W. Zeitler). Better understanding NEXRDA Level II reflectivity using a network of four double-gauge platforms in a single radar cell. NOAA UCAR/COMET Program ($10,424).

06/2008-06/2011 – PI: Stephen Ackley. Co-PIs: H. Xie, T. Marcus (NASA/GSFC), and T. Worby (Australia). Collaborators: J. Zwally, D. Yi, and S. Laxon. Antarctic sea ice thickness from space: validating estimates from the laser and radar satellite altimeters with ship-based measurements. NASA Cryosphere Program, #NNX08AQ87G (total $585,964, with $533,263 for UTSA and $52,701 for NASA/GSFC).

04/2008-05/2009 – Co-PI: Stephen Ackley (PI: Brent Nowak). Robotic exploration of the geophysical and microbial environments at the ice sea water interface of arctic and Antarctic sea ice. UTSA 2008/2009 Collaborative Research Seed Grant Program ($30,000).

2007

09/2007-08/2009 – PI: Hongjie Xie. Martian surface compositions and H2O/CO2 circulation investigations using OMEGA and THEMIS data. NASA/Texas Space Grant Consortium New Investigations Program (TSGC NIP) ($10,000, plus $10,000 matching funds from UTSA).

07/2007-12/2007 – PI: Hongjie Xie. Developing an algorithm for automatically producing multi-day MODIS Terra and Aqua snow cover composite for its better utilities. USGS/TexasView Remote Sensing Consortium Research Award ($3000).

05/2007-05/2010 – Institutional PI: Hongjie Xie (Lead PI: Zong-liang Yang, UT Austin). Co-PIs: David Maidment, Paul Montagna, James McClelland, Guo-yue Niu, and Hongjie Xie. Using satellite data and fully coupled regional hydrologic, ecological and atmospheric models to study complex coastal environmental processes. NASA Interdisciplinary Science Program, #NNX07AL79G (total $1,236,979, UTSA portion $120,000).
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01/2007-12/2009 – Collaborator: Hongjie Xie (PI: Sonia Alconini, UTSA Department of Anthropology). Imperial marginality and frontier: Kallawayas and Chunchos in the eastern Inka borders. NSF ($154,269).

2006

09/2006-08/2010 – PI: Stephen Ackley. Co-PI: Hongjie Xie. Sea Ice Mass Balance in the Antarctic - SIMBA Drift Station. NSF Polar Program ($533,000).
Supplemental fund to the SIMBA project was awarded for participation in the ODEN expedition in December 2006 and data processing and analysis. NSF Polar Program and IPY Program ($61,980).

09/2006-08/2008 – PI: Hatim Sharif. Co-PI: Hongjie Xie. Enhanced short-term hydrometeorological forecasting. NOAA MSI Program ($99,856).

08/2006-02/2008 – PI: Hongjie Xie (in collaboration with Austin/San Antonio NWS Office, PI: J.W. Zeitler). Validating DSP precipitation product using 50 GBRA rain gauge rainfall. NOAA UCAR/COMET Program ($9906).

04/2006-09/2006 – PI: Hongjie Xie. Validation of remotely sensed precipitation using rain gauge data in the Texas Hill Country. USGS/TexasView Remote Sensing Consortium Research Award ($5000).

01/2006-07/2006 – PI: Hongjie Xie. NEXRAD radar rainfall downscaling. Subcontract from New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology; funded by the New Mexico WRRI ($10,000).

2005

10/2005-09/2008 – PI: Hongjie Xie. Minority Opportunities for Research Experience in Earth Science at the University of Texas at San Antonio (MORE Science at UTSA). U.S. Department of Education ($281,653).
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09/2005-08/2006 – Blake Weissling (PhD student under Hongjie Xie's supervision). Early detection of oak wilt using hyperspectral technology. NASA/Texas Space Grant Consortium Graduate Research Fellow Award ($5000).

06/2005-12/2005 – PI: Hongjie Xie. Establishing a spectral library of oak wilt for early detection using hyperspectral remote sensing approach. USGS/TexasView Remote Sensing Consortium Research Award 2005 ($5000).

01/2005-07/2005 – PI: Hongjie Xie. Mars remote sensing for determining Martian evolution of the surface and interior. UTSA Faculty Research Award ($5000).

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